All that said, this game turned into a bit of a slog and we had to rely on just elite shot making from Kawhi and PG to close this. We do have to keep improving the offense. There’s a tendency to just throw it to the star that’s cooking and let him cook. It’s in those moments of stagnation that the team loses leads. It happened tonight, but then they remembered to move the ball to get Norm that big 3 to stop the bleeding from Ty Lue’s ill fated Russ/Harden lineup and the team got back to basics and closed it out.

Harden’s usage rate needs to be much higher. He generates so many easy, effortless points for the team. He needs to understand that if we want Kawhi/PG playing like they have in the last 3 games in April-June, you need to make the regular season games a lot easier. In Q2, the Clips had lost some momentum and the margin went down to +2. Harden came in, started taking shots, missed some, but then went to the line for 5 FTAs, hit a 3 and then suddenly the Clips working margin was closer to 10 with PG and Kawhi not having to do much. Harden had 8 FGAs, including 6 3PAs and 7FTAs. The 3 pointers and FTs are on target but the FGAs need to be 2x that number.

The second unit merely survived and didn’t survive very well. Given circumstances though (no Theis, Norm without a single made 3, Kobe not involved enough), it was decent enough, at least on defense. Russ with good (deferring, making good but unfortunately unsuccessful plays, some great defense) and bad (took two possessions off, forced it a bit inside, passes a little off). Glad Norm made a 3 at the end, not his best game by any means. That unit (and the entire team) so badly needs off-ball shooting and spacing and to me, this was a teaching moment for a) Kobe who needs to be more aggressive and get more shots, in particular when Theis is out and Norm is off (the great stretch vs Denver was the blueprint how to get that offense going) and b) Ty Lue who hopefully recognises this. Russ can’t be great on offense when the only help he gets is iso shots by a star, no spacing and 2-3 guys collapsing onto him and the center. They need more ball movement as well. Two DHOs in the 3rd quarter by Kobe and Mann to Kawhi – and it led to nothing because the ball didn’t keep moving. That’s a highly efficient play if the team offense is designed around it. And it’s also a play that suits T-Mann and Kobe, gets them involved in a way that makes sense and doesn’t exclusively park them behind the arc, waiting to crash the glass (which Russ and Zu already do).

Good to see Harden provide enough playmaking and also some rebounding when his shot is off. In the past, these were games where he might go 4-15 with a very different plus minus.

Zu 42 minutes, hope Theis is good to go vs Portland. Looking at the schedule, with the very important Kings game upcoming, I penciled the Blazers game in as a rest game for Kawhi. After this performance, I’m not so sure whether that might disturb his rhythm. Portland is usually a must win but they’ve been competitive recently and as long as they win the games that count twice (for us as a win, for competition as a loss) like the Kings game, I don’t really mind. What do you guys think, should Kawhi sit out vs the Blazers or not?